Fly on the wall
by ramonesroxx
Summary: Rose is 87 years old, retired and living in her flat of a seniors house in Sunset Beach. She is filling her time, writing down the story of her life as a maid in the Richards house, entertaining her neighbours between board games and coffee time.
1. chapter 1

I was 17 when I had had to find myself a job and take care of my parents who both got sick. I had no idea what to do, I wasn't qualified for any job...but I knew I had to find something quick because we were about to lose the house. My little brother had to continue school and I was the only one who could do something to save us...so I got myself a newspaper and started searching. I thought I would do whatever, just to earn some money...but little did I know that I would end up on the most terrifying, devastating and heartbreaking rollercoaster I had ever had to witness...

April 1977.

The doorbell rang as I heard someone rushing to open up the door.

"Hey, it's Rose, right?"

"Yes Mrs. Adam, I'm here to apply for the job in the newspaper." I answered unsure.

"Yes, perfect. Come on in. Sit down. Annie get the hell down from the balustrade! I'm sorry, my niece is being a pain..." then I saw this 12 year old sliding down from the first floor. I was afraid she'd break her neck!

"Annie I told you to stop it! We have guests!"

"This is fun aunt Bette! You should try it too." The girl said unimpressed. "Hello!" She addressed me and left running outside.

"She's my niece. My brother left for another one of his business trips to Dallas, ugh the things you put up with for family!" Bette lamented. "So, want anything to drink?"

"No mam. Thank you mam."

"So, how long are you already working as a housekeeper?"

"To be honest mam, I just started. I had to quit my wish to go to college, my parents are sick and..."

"Oh that's okay. Do you have any experience with children?"

I looked a little uncomfortable thinking it was that little red haired devil I had to take care of and explained how I helped my parents raise my little brother, obviously hesitating.

"Now that's great! We can go from there!" I watched the blonde woman getting excited. She definitely seemed desperate to find someone, so I figured it would be easy to get this job.

"Now, this might sound a bit confusing but, it's not me I want you to work for." Bette said expecting me to say something.

Hah you can imagine my relief thinking I'd be spared the furious teenager to be I just witnessed.

"Who do you need me for?"

"It's for my friend, Livvy. Olivia Richards, I'm sure you've heard of her."

Surely I have heard of her. Her and that good looking husband of hers who were plastering every front page of every newspaper in town. I turned the page to the newspaper I had had with me and asked: "you mean her?"

"Yeah, exactly. Now look, she and her husband are facing some problems at the moment...they're both working full time and they have two little kids, aged four and one and a half. They need some help with everything..."

I was so excited to get to know one of the most influential families in town, I couldn't keep a grin from my face. Mrs. Olivia Richards, she was so pretty, always dressed like she was about to join a Vernissage or a party, expensive jewellery hanging around her neck, her husband always at her side whenever she was seen somewhere, like another accessory she possessed. They were the couple of this town, a perfect duo...or so I thought.

"Wait, the Richards? The Richards as in the parents of the man who runs the Liberty Corp now and visits you from time to time?" Hannah interrupted rose from her story as she threw another dice on the board.

"Sean, yes. His parents." Rose answered excited.

So here I was, sitting in a huge chair, in a huge house, with a woman with huge hair - guess it was the fashion - and was waiting for a huge opportunity.

"What exactly am I expected to do?" I asked waiting for her to speak up.

"Pff, Listen im not so sure yet. Laundry, cleaning around the house, maybe cooking, anything that would help Livvy. Watch the children, her babysitter is soo not doing a good job." She told me as I thought that was nothing out of the ordinary, it was basically what I did at home. I couldn't believe that Mrs. Richards didn't already have a whole staff of people working for her around the clock...

"As for the salary, I will have to ask you to be discrete. You'll get your pay checks from me until I say otherwise."

Wait a minute what? I couldn't believe my ears. She was paying me to work for her friend? Why?

"I'm sure you want to know why but I will explain everything at the right time. So when can you start?" I reckoned she was testing me and my discretion so I decided not to question any further.

"Right Now?" I said excited and waiting to meet the one and only Richards family.

"So why did that friend of hers pay your checks?" Brian asked curious while Hannah collected the cards from the table.

"Just be patient Brian will you. If you'll manage to stay awake for the next half an hour, you'll find out!" Rose laughed and threw the dices as it was her turn.


	2. Chapter 2

„Aaaah, gotcha!" Brian was triumphing over his win.

„You're such a bad winner!" Hannah said, writing down the score with shaky hands.

„Rose, why don't you go on? I need my pre-cake nap." Brian was teasing her while they all laughed.

After the conversation with Bette…or, interview? Well, after I left, I ran home to my mother to tell her the good news.

I remember barging into the house, I didn't take my jacket off, nor my shoes, I just ran upstairs.

„Mama, we are going to keep the house!" I yelled as I woke her up.

„What? What are you saying?" She asked weak.

„I've got a job! You'll never guess where!" I was so excited I thought I was going to cry.

So after I told her about me working for the one and only Richards family….to my surprise, she started to cry.

I said, „Mama what's wrong? I'm going to have a job, we can pay the rent, we can keep the house! I thought you'd be happy mama, please don't cry." I begged but she couldn't seem to stop.

„Oh my sweet, sweet Rose! I am so sorry! I know how much you wanted to go to college and now….you'll work as a maid for some rich and spoiled people…" she sobbed.

„But mama, I am sure they're nice people. And if it doesn't work, I'll search for something else, please stop crying mama." She finally seemed to stop and I didn't know what made my stomach roar like it did. Was it hunger? Or fear to let mama down? I couldn't tell. „Mama, I'm going to wash my clothes, I'll meet them tomorrow, I need my best outfit."

„But tomorrow is Sunday…" she was yelling from her room. At least she could still keep track of the calendar, that was a good sign.

„That's the only day of the week when both Mr. and Mrs. Richards are home and I have to meet them before I can start on monday!"

„Rose, come here please…" my mother was still crying in her bed. „Rose…my precious daughter. Promise me…promise me you'll never forget about your dreams…promise you'll go to college as soon as you can, as soon as we find another way..."

I couldn't believe just how much this was affecting her. „I promise mama. I love you." I said to comfort her but deep down I knew it was going to be hard once I left school. I would have given everything to see my mother happy, or in this case: I would have said anything she wanted to hear.

The day seemed so short compared to other Saturdays. I went to shop for groceries, had my clothes ready for the big day, started cooking and before I knew it, it was already bed time. Before I put myself to sleep, I prayed to God to help me and my family out, and well, hoped for the best...

"Did your father know about this? I'm sure he wouldn't have wanted you to play housekeeper to those stinkin rich folks, he had his fair share with those kind of people..." Hannah recalled.

"Indeed, he had. He was working so hard his entire life but was always treated like a...lower class human being, not once have his bosses thanked him for the hard work he put...not once..." Rose recalled her fathers gardening job, and how he used to come home fully exhausted. "He didn't know at first, I kept it from him a few weeks, until he ran into me and Mrs Richards on the pier...but that's another story..." Rose said trying to figure out what she actually wanted to say.

Rose was old, old and weak. Her hands that worked so hard her entire life were wrinkled and trembling.

She tried to pick up the cards from the stack and ruined the whole stack in the attempt. She always got angry when she felt she couldn't do about anything right anymore.

But her vision turned dark, her frown deep as she watched a young caretaker pass them by.

"She used to be a nurse." Rose said out of the blue watching the young caretaker run with cutlery to the dining room as it was time for coffee and cake.

"Who was a nurse my dear?" Hannah asked surprised mixing the cards again.

"Mrs. Richards, she used to be a nurse..." her face crumbled as she started to cry.


	3. Chapter 3

It was late in the evening and Rose was in her flat, watching the sunset from her bedroom window. She sat at her desk and turned the little lamp on, grabbing a pen from a beautiful wooden box. She remembered how Olivia gifted her the box, as a gesture of appreciation, showing her many times she felt as tough she was part of the family. It was at Christmas ...so so long ago, one of many little presents she received from Olivia throughout the years.

The pen she grabbed had Gregory's initials on it, it used to be his favorite, she laughed contemplating on the object. He always signed his papers with it. Today, it belonged to her since Sean let her take whatever she wanted from the house the day she retired. She took a pen.

Sean laughed at her telling her he hadn't met someone like her in his entire life. She could have had anything out of that house...and she decided to take a pen.

With shaken moves, Rose put the pen to paper and started scribbling.

"The day I met the Richards.

I was in front of the house at One Ocean Ave. I have never walked that street before in my life. The only times I saw it, was when my father drove me somewhere and we had to pass it. We weren't from...that side of the town. But now I was here, and I was about to come here every day, see all the beautiful and impressive houses, wondering how many rooms each had, how many people were living in there...and what it must feel like to own such a house. I had to chuckle at my own thoughts, I was still just a child at times.

I looked carefully around the Richards mansion and scanned the surroundings, 2 entries, the garages, flowers as far the eye can see, beautifully arranged in expensive pottery. I went to the front door feeling my heart racing.

"Annie Douglas! Would you stop plucking the flowers!!" I heard Bette shout at her niece again. "Hello Rose! Punctual, ey? That's again a plus on my list!" She tried to make me laugh but my excitement only let me smile briefly.

I watched Annie violently pluck some flowers from the bushes in front of the house and wondered if she was always so angry.

"Honey, Stop plucking them, come on be a good girl." Bette tried but there was nothing this girl was reacting to.

"I'm giving Olivia a bunch of pretty flowers!" Annie smiled and continued.

"Poopsie, these are Livvy's flowers! Agh..never mind! Children huh." Bette was slightly embarrassed and pressed the doorbell.

After a few moments, Gregory Richards himself pulled the door open, surprised to see us standing in front of his house. Before we could say anything, Annie jumped at him shouting his name.

"Gregory!!" She hang herself on his waist as he laughed and patted her head.

"Come on in." He invited us in and gave me a suspicious look.

I think I mustn't mention that what I considered to be my best clothes, looked like I was some sort of pilgrim from long passed century. It must have been what amused Gregory since he couldn't stop eyeing me and grinning, probably wondering how I ended up with Bette and Annie.

"Daddy said that when he comes back home, we'll go for a Picknick! Just him and me and you!" Annie explained serious. "So that means it's a date, right!?" She asked him as he sat down on the sofa.

"I guess it is." He replied messing with her hair.

"Stop it!" She laughed. "Where's Olivia?" Annie asked looking around.

"She's upstairs, putting Cait and Sean to bed for their nap. She'll be down in a minute." He explained.

"Look what I've got her.." Annie whispered.

"That's awfully sweet of you!" Mr. Richards encouraged her.

"So, Bette, don't you want to introduce us?" He pointed his attention to me.

"Greggy, this is Rose. Rose, Greggy." she laughed.

"Rose..." he repeated circling his head around, not knowing what to make of this.

"My name is Rose Rodriguez Sir, it is such a pleasure to meet you!" I was still so nervous. I shook his hand and tried my best to be perfect.

He was a very handsome young man, no wonder he got one of the most beautiful women in town to marry him. But I figured everybody with that obscene amount of money would be beautiful. I could hardly wait to meet their beautiful babies!

"Rose Rodriguez. And what can I do for you Rose? Bette...?" He tilted his head to look at his friend, the situation obviously amusing him.

"Aaah, but Greggy, It's what Rose can do for you!" Bette laughed again. She was a very jolly, happy spirited woman, as I learned in my time I got to spend with her.

Before mr. Richards could say anything, mrs Richards glided barefooted down the stairs, in a long white dress. Her hair was put together in a messy updo, a thin silver necklace tangled with some of her loose curls. She was even more beautiful than in any picture I have ever seen of her. Elegant, soft, feminine, charming without any effort...everything I wasn't and probably would never be.

I had to look again at my pilgrim outfit I used to consider beautiful and being one of my best. Until that day.

"Hello Bette! Annie!" Her voice was melodic and happy.

"Toots! There you are! Why so happy?"

"It's the first time in forever that Sean and Caitlin fell asleep in minutes time. I'm starting to get good at this!" She joked around as Annie jumped to greet her.

"Olivia! Look what I've got you!"

"Oh Annie, sweetheart thank you!" Mrs Richards smiled at her as the 12 year old hang on her waist just the way she hang on Mr. Richards before.

"Bette, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" Mrs Richards asked finally noticing that I couldn't manage to say a word.

"Livvy, Rose. Rose, Livvy." After Bettes vague introduction I took the chance to do so myself, properly. I was so struck, I couldn't believe that I was actually meeting them.

I was in the Richards house. With the Richards themselves. Not many people coming where I come from can say they were ever so lucky.

Mrs Richards grabbed a vase and put the small flower arrangement on the table. "There, now this looks pretty!" And sat down on the sofa, Annie planted between her and her husband.

"Bette, as lovely as it is to have you here, Olivia and I have dinner appointments and we really need to work on some things. So why are you here?" I heard mr Richards ask her impatiently.

"Livvy, Greggy, Rose is your new housemaid. Starting tomorrow." Bette cut to the chase while the Richards looked at each other confused, over Annie's head. A moment of awkward silence settled between us and I smiled to hide my anxiety.

"In my office, both of you!" Mr. Richards barked at us. I stood up following his request. "Can't you count? One" he pointed at his wife, "two" he pointed at Bette. He took both of them in a room I later learned was his office and slammed the door shut.

I was left in the living room with Annie, who was sitting on the sofa in a lack of occupation saying: "wanna play hide and seek?" I stared at her, nervous thinking that I didn't expect this type of reaction. What if my mother was right? What if all these rich people were just jerks? But why would Mr. Richards be so angry?

"Don't you have any dolls to play with?" I asked the read headed fury.

"Daddy says I'm too old for dolls. dolls are for little sissies. Like Caitlin!" She said. Annie made me wonder, what would a girl like her, with so much energy and so little occupation do with her life and with all the money? She was definitely lacking a loving family, to invest time and patience in her, I figured.

I paced trough the living room and looked around, this house seemed bigger from the inside than out. High ceilings, endless stairways, huge window, huge doors and a mass of curtains I would have never been able to wash myself. I smiled.

 _"We can't afford a maid right now!"_ I heard mr Richards shout.

 _"But darling, we could use some help around the house..."_ Mrs Richards tried to convince him.

 _"and, and I'll pay for her Greggy, until you sort your mess out. You can count on me!"_ Bette assured him.

I felt guilty to eavesdrop but I was so curious I couldn't help it.

 _"Olivia, you should concentrate on the radio station! And our dinner with Vincent tonight, because he is about to sell it all to you. You don't have time for...this!"_ he scoffed.

 _"But I want to! God I'm trying... I just can't be a mother, a housewife and a manager all at the same time!"_ Mrs Richards complained as I heard Bette mumbling something probably to her support.

Before I could listen to any more of their conversation, I heard a baby's cry and instinctively ran upstairs to find out what was going on. Their youngest, Sean, was awake. I took him into my arms and cradled the little boy, he was so tiny. He finally stopped and grabbed my collar to inspect it while the Richards were heading upstairs to look for me.

 _"how old is she even? Taking care of my children! I might as well let Annie do the job!"_ he barked still annoyed.

 _"darling, if you want some Wildlings for children, go ahead!"_ Mrs Richards said opening the door wide open to see me with Sean in my arms.

"What happened? Is everything alright?" She asked concerned grabbing him from me.

"I'm sorry Mrs Richards, I heard him cry and thought I should look after him." I explained myself and waited for mr Richards to say something but he didn't. He turned away and we heard his steps on the stairway.

"Don't mind him Rose, he doesn't mean it like that. We just have some problems at the moment...it's not that easy with us." She gave way to a smile.

"It's okay really. It was too good to be true anyway." I was disappointed.

"What?" She was unsure.

"To be able to work for you...but I am happy I got to know you anyway. Not many people can say that where I come from." I joked to ease the tension.

She smiled at me and grabbed my shoulder.

"You know what? What would you say if you worked incognito?" I raised my eyebrows not understanding. "Just until we get Gregory to get used to the idea. Trust me, he's usually not like this...you can come when he's working in the office and leave before he gets home. I really need all the help I can get...but you've certainly figured that out haven't you?"

I was still shocked at her proposal and was wondering how she imagined to pull this off without mr Richards noticing...

"If you're worried for your salary, don't be. Bette is helping me out until we get out of... this mess..." she wasn't specific. "Trust me."

"I- I do but...your husband is going to be so mad when he finds out."

"Ah darling, don't worry about him. He doesn't have to know everything, you know." She laughed and put Sean back in his crib as he fell asleep again.

"So then tomorrow?" I asked excited.

"9 am. I'll make sure to kick Gregory out by then." She twinkled and grabbed me by the hand to walk me out.

And that was how I got my job. With a lie. But that was nothing compared to what Mrs. Richards had on stock. Nothing.


	4. Chapter 4

"Rose, you look awful this morning!" Hannah greeted her neighbor at the breakfast table.

"Charming in the early hours of the day." She managed to put up a smile.

"I'm sorry...did you take your meds on an empty stomach again?"

"Yes, they're wrenching me out. I need to eat something tough, my stomach is killing me." She laughed again. Her stomach, her kidneys, her whole body was on a mission against her.

Rose was used to the pile of meds she had to take every day. 11 pills for breakfast, 5 for lunch and another 5 for supper. Every. Single. Day.

"Dear, did you even sleep?" Hannah asked again noticing Rose was by far looking worse than on other days.

"Well...not really. I dreamed a lot and constantly woke up." She explained as one of the caretakers cleared her throat and started talking loudly. Rose couldn't help but smile at how many of her "colleagues" adjusted their hearing aids.

„Today, we have a very special guest. This Sunday, a special gospel choir is coming from Atlanta just for you!" the young woman said excited while everybody was clapping. „Starting 6 pm, they will perform for two hours in the function room. Dinner will be served at 5 pm instead. Thank you for your attention and have a wonderful day!" she finished as Rose had to smile welcoming the change in the program.

„This is so wonderful!" Hannah was excited, „finally some fun around here!"

„I am looking forward to this the whole week." Rose had to admit. „Did you see Brian?" She asked looking around.

Looking out for each other in the facility was normal, everybody had an eye on their immediate neighbors. Were they up already, did they join for breakfast, did they receive any visits, did they go to for the routine check up? They were all they had left so they took good care of each other.

„Oh he's probably still combing his hair. The time he invests with that hair is admirable, you'd think he's prepping for a date." Hannah laughed to ease the spirits.

Hannah Connors was a retired tailor, her shop being one of the most frequented elite tailor shops in town. Rose has known Hannah for the past 40 years, as she regularly brought Gregory's and Olivia's clothing for adjustments to her. But even tough they've seen each other on a regular basis, Rose and Hannah got close only in their late retired days in the facility, still learning a lot about each other as the days passed by.

„I just hope he's alright. Sometimes I'm afraid he won't wake up from his naps...he sleeps so much." Rose was thoughtful.

„Oh he's like some old weed in the garden you'd love to get rid of but - Well what did I tell you, there he is!" Hannah waved at him.

Brian

Brian was not an ordinary man. He has served for the United States forces his entire life. He was strong and confident, his life of being part of a mission "larger than life", to serve and protect his country, has made him a proud and strong man. His diseases were many. But none could keep him from strutting that self confidence on a daily basis.

He never told much about his years in the Air Force. Maybe because he has seen a lot of horrifying scenes throughout the years that he wanted to spare his fellow "left to die in a facility" friends. Rose was often told that these people were rather careful with their story telling. Unlike her, who adored talking about her life.

"Brian, what took you so long?" Hannah asked amused.

"Ah, this dang hair of mine won't sit the way I want to!" He mused the breakfast table in front of him.

"See, told you!" Hannah laughed.

"Rose, good lord, you look like hell." He stated and started picking up a slice of bread.

"You two are like peas in a pod. Thank you for the compliment, Brian. Hannah." Rose said and they all started laughing.

"Mh, Rose, how about you finishing that story of yours? Why did that, what was her name, Bette Adam, pay your checks after all?" Brian asked munching.

Rose smiled and was happy to know her friends seemed interested in her stories. Well, what was there left to be interested in? They didn't know how many tomorrows they'll still have. They couldn't dream for anything anymore, they couldn't hope for better things to come. All they could do was to dwell on their lives, fulfilled or not but certainly moving and interesting.

"Well," Rose started, "I hadn't found out myself why until a couple of months later." She said. "As I told you last time, I started working for them incognito. Mr. Richards wasn't allowed to know."

"Tha! Imagine that Brian, working like that for - how long?" Hannah laughed.

"Quite some months. I started in April but mr Richards found me hiding in their bedroom wardrobe in November." Rose had to laugh herself.

"Now wait, November?? Good lord Rose. How did you do that?"

"Wasn't always easy I can tell ya." She laughed and put her knife down, resting her aching back on the back rest of the chair.

"It all started out quite good. Mr Richards was away a lot so I could come and go as I pleased. Mrs. Richards was away a lot too but she popped in quite a few times a day. At first I thought she was checking up on me but I later learned she was trying hard to keep a lid on her life as a mother and business woman. She wanted to be there for children."

September 1977

"Rose? I'm home!" I heard Mrs. Richards slam the door shut and looking for me.

"In here!" I shouted back from the kitchen.

"Oh this smells delicious!" She smiled my way and looked into the pot I was stirring, like a child herself. "Where are Caitlin and Sean?"

"Sean is in his crib taking a nap and I'll go pick up miss Caitlin from kindergarten in half an hour."

"Rose..." she giggled, "You don't have to address my daughter "miss Caitlin", we're not royalty you know." She laughed, so easy going.

"Yes m'am." I only said, thinking that they indeed weren't royalty but I sure felt that way. I sometimes forgot she was just a few years older than I was and yet we were worlds apart. We could have been friends. She was the type of happy spirited friend you'd love to have around.

"Mrs. Richards," I said wiping my hands in my apron, "when should I leave today?"

"Oh my, let me see. Gregory has an appointment in LA until 3pm, and then he said he wanted to stop by and see Del...well...I guess it's okay for you to stay until 4..." she calculated his steps. I couldn't help wondering if they never ever thought of surprising themselves. I wondered, what if mr. Richards lied about an appointment to come home early and take his wife for lunch or well...just be together. He never did that. Not until that day in November that is."

Rose paused as both Hannah and Brian were grinning.

"So it went like this for weeks, i had done my chores, picked up my checks from Mrs. Adam weekly, never questioning why or how this had to be this way. One day tough, Caitlin started talking about me. She was fond of me, very much so. I had always done anything she ever wanted, she was so sweet with her golden locks bouncing on her little shoulders. Her mother made her look like a doll and she was indeed a precious little doll. "

"My God, what did she say?" Hannah asked curious.

"Well, in the evening when Mr. Richards got home, and he had asked her how her day was...she started - at some point - to tell him how I picked her up from kindergarten, how me and Mrs. Richards went for a walk on the pier during her lunch break, how I made her eat her whole dish even tough she was stuffed..."

"Oh my! So didn't he get suspicious?"

"He did, especially because he knew me and my name ever since the day Bette had introduced me to them. But Mrs. Richards convinced him I was just an imaginary friend Caitlin was talking about..."

"No way!" Hannah laughed out loud. "You know, I always knew that woman was a devious mastermind but this, oh it's too much fun!" Hannah laughed.

Rose's lips curled a little. "She was indeed. So one day, I had the shock of my life. Mrs. Richards stormed into the house at noon. She didn't say a word. It was all boom, bam, wham, lots of noises. I ran out the kitchen to see what was going on and saw her searching the drawers of the cabinets in the living room. I asked her what she was looking for, if I could help."

"I swear to God I will kill him!" She shouted.

"What? I..." I stuttered.

"That bastard - her favorite cursing word by the way - who does he think he is?" She ranted.

"Mrs. Richards you are scaring me..."

"Don't mind me Rose. Have the guest bedroom prepared by this evening. Mrs. Adams will be staying with us for a while." She said still searching for something.

"Olivia I'm warning you!" Someone shouted walking Into the house after her. I ran up the stairs since I wasn't allowed to be seen by anyone but I stopped midway, to listen.

"Get the hell out of my house!" I heard her shout.

"You listen to me Olivia, I love her!" The man cried.

"You love her? You son of a...! She trusted you! She gave you everything you ever wanted, what made you run into the arms of that slut? Was it love perhaps?"

"I swear to god it was a mistake, please don't let her stay here, please don't encourage her to leave me. You've done enough already."

"Hah right, you know something, I will do exactly that. Bette is my best friend! She needs me now and she can stay here for as long as she wants to!" I heard Mrs Richards shout at Bettes husband. Then there was a lot of cursing, shouting and all...and I wanted to go upstairs and prepare the guest bedroom until I heard something that made me very suspicious.

"Olivia, I swear to God, if you go trough with this and encourage Bette to leave me, i will tell everyone everything about the boy and your involvement!"

Silence.

"Del is going to kill you if just think of harassing his sister or me. You will lose your license, your reputation, everything. Is that what you want?"

Silence. What boy? What was happening?

"You'd better not push me Olivia." He menaced again.

"And you'd better not threaten me. If Gregory ever finds out that you scum are threatening me, he will kill you. I'm serious!"

"The hell with him. If he finds out what you did, he'll be the one to threaten you, my dear."

Silence. What has she done?

"Get out of my house or I'll call the police!" She said firmly.

Silence again. I rushed up the last pair of stairs. My heart beating out my chest. That was serious. What boy? What had she done?"

"Oooh Rose. This is so exciting. So what was it?" Hannah was all ears.

"I found out was it was alright...20 years later." Rose smiled.

"Good lord Rose, don't keep us waiting so long, we don't have 20 years ahead of us." Brian remarked as they all laughed.

"No, really. Instead of answering my questions, you're rising even more." Brian teased. "I still want to know why Bette paid your checks."

"Well, do you want to understand the story or just want me to tell you?" Rose had a blast.

"Both I guess..." he replied lazily.

"Well then you'll have to wait until I get there." Rose smiled.

"It was inevitable that everything had to come out sooner or later. Mrs. Adam was staying at the house and helped me get around Mr. Richards even better than before. She did a lot of things with me back then, it was quite odd to tell you the truth. Anyway, since she got herself into a very ugly divorce from her first husband, she had nothing. Not one penny. He was vengeful and tried to get back at her by cutting off her credit cards, he took her car away, all that... so eventually, she couldn't pay my checks anymore and she and Mrs. Richards asked me to sit down and talk to them one noon."

"Rose...Ah...please believe me I am very sorry..."

"Yeah, Livvy and I both like you very much."

"But you see Rose, things got a bit out of control here...Bettes divorce and our financial trouble...we can't afford you anymore." I heard Mrs Richards say and my shoulders fell.

"I-it's not like we don't appreciate what you're doing here. You are a wonderful girl. But..." Bette tried but I jumped in saying:

"I understand. Really, I do." I turned around to grab my bag and said a simple thank you, taking a long look at both women. I headed for the door as they watched me leave but then I turned around. It was nice being there. It was nice having Caitlin and Sean around. It was nice being in that house. It was nice to be a part of that exciting life of the rich and famous. It was my job.

"I..." I began but didn't know what I wanted to say actually. "I could still help around if you want me to. I mean, I won't expect anything in return, I'll just help around a little." I offered not wanting this to end.

"Oh darling, Rose..." Mrs. Richards came closer. "I can't ask this of you."

"But you're not asking. I'm offering. I know how much you need the help now. Everything will eventually turn out alright," I said in my juvenile nonchalance, "and then you can pay me properly."

"Honey," Bette jumped in, "this is very sweet of you but think about your parents. You need a proper job with proper payment."

"I will get one, don't worry." I promised as if I could have handled two jobs at a time.

Mrs. Richards looked at Bette and back at me.

"If you'd do that..I swear to God I'll repay you double, no triple! I just can't promise when..."

"You don't have to!" I dropped my bag and jumped to hug her. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to pick Caitlin up." I ran out the house as if nothing ever happened.


	5. Chapter 5

"When I came home with Caitlin, I asked her to go wash her hands and get ready for lunch. I walked in to the living room and saw Mrs. Richards on the sofa with a glass of, I don't know, some booze."

"Ugh, in the middle of the day?" Brian asked sipping on his decaffeinated coffee.

"Yes, it was the first time time I saw her like that. She looked lost and sad and it made me sad." Rose explained. "She noticed me, her eyes blurry and puffy. I wondered if she cried. She called me and patted the free spot near her on the sofa."

"Come here Rose, sit down." She began. "The way we all treat you, it's so unfair..my husband barked at you that Sunday, gosh if he knew you're here...I am leaving you with all this" she waved around the house, "and you have no clue what you've gotten yourself into..."

"Mrs. Richards, it's alright really." I objected but she hushed me.

"No. No...it's not alright. You have the right to know what's going on. I like you." She said smiling, tilting her head, obviously drunk. "And that's why I think you should know what's going on." She paused taking another sip, "Don't let Cait see me like this when she comes downstairs, take her outside or something." She whispered gesturing at the patio door as I nodded "Anyway, I want you to know that my husband and I, we're broke. Flat broke. All our credit cards. All our possessions, everything is frozen and under investigation." She chuckled. "You wouldn't have thought that ey? Well, nobody would. The high and mighty mr. Richards and his lovely, adorable wife, co-owner of the radio station, the glamorous couple and their beautiful babies...are flat broke." She stood up and danced around the living room.

"I...I..." I didn't know what to say.

"The thing is, you will eventually hear lots of rumors. And I don't want you to find out about it...like that. I want you to know: Gregory, he," she chuckled again, "he can't stop just being an attorney. Nooo, you see he and Del think they should own this whole damn town, like they're entitled to it or something." She poured herself another glass while I only watched stunned, she had the hiccups. "He had to invest in some...well, I have no clue in what. In something. But it turns out that that man...his name was funny," she laughed in her drunken state, "cake, co...cook. Something I never do by the way," she laughed extremely amused and sighed, "Exactly, Cook that shithead. Ups, oh sorry," she appeared to be embarrassed. She never cursed like that, "that gentleman, he was up to no good and now the authorities think my husband is embezzling money...they took everything from us." She gulped on her glass.

"But...but you're innocent, right?. You'll see it will all be good." I tried.

"Oh sweetheart. Nothing will be alright...money, no money, what does it matter?" I couldn't follow.

"But you are working hard and eventually it'll all be good." I repeated dumbly.

"My husband...he..." she started to cry. "He says he's working a lot because of this...situation. But he is running away. He is running away from me...he can't take the pain..."

"What?" I was dumbstruck.

"Mommy!" Caitlin rushed down the stairs as Mrs. Richards sniffed away her tears and put her glass down.

"Caitlin sweetheart. Be a good girl and go with Rose outside and play." She said trying to hide her state.

"Come here Caitlin. Let's go eat outside today, it's such a wonderful day!" I offered and exited with the little girl, hoping that Mrs. Richards would exaggerate about everything due to her drunken state."

"Oh my. I had a feeling this had to be bad. Oh dear." Hannah exclaimed.

"You won't guess how bad! As I watched little miss Caitlin," Rose laughed a bit, "eat her food and listened to her stories about her day at kindergarten, I couldn't help thinking about her mother who was inside the house, dead drunk and extremely miserable. I started to understand that what I thought were empty bottles and glasses from dinner get togethers with their friends, or little business meetings at home - were in fact Mrs. Richards company and comfort, and solely hers. She was an alcoholic. I shrugged, a deep chill ran down my spine. No, it couldn't be. I was imagining things. She wouldn't. But it all came down on me, the reason she and Mr. Richards seemed so distant, the reason she was secretive, the reason she probably also was home as often as she was during the day. It wasn't just because of her children, tough the way she treated them and showered them with love and affection was melting my heart, she came home to drink."

"Ro-hose!" Caitlin called my name insistently.

"I'm sorry sweetie, what?"

"I'm aaaaall finished. Can I get some dessert?" She said in her little voice.

"Oh that empty plate deserves dessert. What would you like?"

The girl frowned serious making me smile: "mousse oh chocla" she couldn't pronounce it correctly and I bursted out laughing at her adorable way to say the words. She watched me and continued serious: "what's funny?"

"Nothing, I'm sorry. You are adorable!"

"I know. Everybody says it." The confidence must've come from her father. "When I grow up, I want to spell everything correctly, with a posh accent just like mommy does." She said cute. Cute little Caitlin. And her mother...the posh alcoholic."

"Oh boy..." Brian interrupted. "Why didn't she get some help? Did her husband know?"

"He must have. I don't think anyone could oversee the missing bottles and Mrs. Richards state of being..." Rose answered and went on. "But I suddenly felt so ashamed of what she was doing, it was even more a reason to stay with her and help her around the house."

"What about money?"

"Oh she always stuffed my aprons pockets with money. I don't think she even looked at how much it was. She just did. Probably felt extremely bad having me work for her without a contract or anything."

"So you could support yourself and your parents?"

"Yes, I could. It was just...hard because I couldn't calculate you know. One day she had given me 30-40$, the next day she put a 100$ bill in my pocket, it was...well, a surprise every day." She giggled.

"So did they get out of that money embezzling thing?" Hannah asked curious.

"Yes, one year later they did. It took them two years to get back on track. Endless lawsuits, interrogations, financials put upside down, it was horrifying. But they made it. They were both working around the clock to make it work somehow. Even tough at times I wondered why since obviously there was something extremely wrong with their marriage."

"And that's why she started drinking...I remember reading about her addiction in some tabloids, but I thought it was, you know, bad gossip trying to stain their reputation." Hannah explained.

"Unfortunately most of those stories had a core of truth inside...Anyway, ever since that day, i started to pay attention to the empty bottles and to her. I watched her mood swings, her Pokerface she put on whenever she had to talk to me, how she kept me at a distance knowing probably that I knew. I wished I could talk to her about it, tell her I didn't mind or thought any less of her because of that but I knew I was her maid and not a confident so I kept my nose out of her problems and hoped for the best."

"That must've been hard." Hannah threw in.

"Tell me about it. There were time I wished I could tell mr Richards what was going on, ask him to help her. I couldn't understand how he could just watch her drown in booze and not do a thing about it. But I knew it was not my place to do so. And he didn't even know I was there in the first place so...well I kept shut."

"What about Bettes husband, how did that turn out?" Brian asked.

"Well, one day while Bette and home from a job she got herself, I was just finishing my shift.

"Should I make you some tea before I leave, Mrs. Richards?" I asked politely.

"Oh that would be lovely. But you should really go then, Gregory is coming home early today." She said quick and turned to her friend. "Tell me Bette, how did it go?" She asked thinking I was out of the room. And I was but it was so damn hard no to be curious at times...

"Oh boy, honey, you can relax. Del took care of everything." Bette answered happy.

"What do you mean by took care?" Mrs. Richards was obviously concerned.

"He paid him double than he originally did. To keep him shut. Came in handy because I found out he moved in with that bitch he cheated on me. Imagine if poor Elaine would have found out!"

"Oh Bette I'm so sorry for Elaine but also for you and your ruined marriage!"

"Don't be toots, I'm free of that bastard and it's all thanks to you." Bette apparently wanted to leave because Mrs Richards asked:

"Where are you going?"

"Oh, I'm going out."

"Out?"

"Out."

"Come on Bette! Who is he?"

"Ahaha toots, is it so obvious? He's such a charming man! He's an attorney, Al Kennedy. I met him a few weeks ago in Dels office. I never thought my brother could come in so handy." She giggled.

"What about the tea?"

Oh damn I thought, the tea! I rushed to the kitchen to make the tea and wondered what Bettes husband had to be shut about. What did Del, Bette and Mrs. Richards know that obviously Mr. Richards and Elaine Stevens didn't?


End file.
